


YOUTH

by AlxSteele



Series: Through The Looking Glass [15]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - This World Inverted (Shadowhunters TV), Developing Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Halloween, Kissing, Light Angst, M/M, Malec, Smooth!Alec cowers from a spider smoothly, Spiders, death of a spider
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-20
Updated: 2016-05-20
Packaged: 2018-06-09 14:07:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6910345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlxSteele/pseuds/AlxSteele
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set in the AU of This World Inverted: Alec talks Magnus into going club hopping with him for Halloween but things come up. Magnus saves Alec's life from a tiny deadly spider that's not actually deadly but....Alec doesn't like spiders.</p>
<p>FLUFFY!</p>
            </blockquote>





	YOUTH

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know exactly how this one came about but it did so...well, here you go. Mostly fluff, some 'trying to bring an almost plot that will come up later' in, and light angst!
> 
> Title from YOUTH by Troye Sivan because that's what I was listening to while posting this!
> 
> (sorry about the horrible summary, I was too tired to summary tonight)

Magnus took a sip of his espresso and promptly spit it back out.

“That was quite rude you know,” Ragnor said. He glared at Magnus as he quickly pushed the small coffee cup across the table, as far away from him as possible.

“It was quite rude of you to serve me that,” Magnus replied, a shiver going down his back as he attempted to get rid of the foul taste in his mouth by biting into an – equally disgusting – biscotti. That too, he spat out.

Ragnor’s face contorted into a look of pure loathing that he turned on Magnus. “Now, what could possibly be wrong with that?”

Magnus sat up in the fluffy chair he’d been sprawling in, they were in a small empty coffee shop that Ragnor had just purchased. Ragnor chose to live out each century basically the same. He’d run around, visiting exotic places that were no long exotic, avoiding people everywhere and eventually growing bored. Then he’d come up with one of his little “projects”. He’d decide to conquer one of the hardest spells or track down an old missing spell book.

Every once in a while, he’d decide to join Magnus and Catarina in, as he liked to say, “playing mundane”. He flinted in and out of New York to visit his friends but with Magnus’s “love drama” as Ragnor called it, he’d decided to stick around for a while. “This is far too interesting to miss. Plus, you never know when you might need me.” And somehow all that had led to this: Magnus being the test subject for Ragnor’s concoctions. Ragnor could not even make plain coffee taste good, it turned out.

Finally, Magnus replied, trying to break the news to his old friend carefully. “That is the worst thing I have ever eaten. Remember the time we had fried rat because you thought it’d been “an adventure”? This is far worse than even that was.”

Ragnor jumped to his feet, feigning hurt. “It’s a cookie! It can’t possibly be that bad.” Then he took a bite. And spit it out. Frowned. “Well then. It’s over. No _Fell’s Coffee House_.”

Ragnor collapsed back into his chair. It was just as well, Magnus thought, he’d seen the design for the sign earlier and it included a very vivid image of Ragnor, complete with his lovely horns. It didn’t scream “coffee shop”.

Ragnor sighed, waved a hand and made the mess of dirty dishes, old coffee, spilled coffee, and everything else he’d managed to make terribly badly, disappear. Then he turned his gaze back to Magnus. “So…” he started and Magnus frowned. Was Ragnor going to start in on him now too? “How is the little werewolf problem?”

Magnus sighed, running a hand through his dark, flopping hair. He really needed to trim his hair, it was ridiculous. “Luke is trying to track the rogues down but…they’ve been threatening him and I’m not sure he understands what he’s getting into. Just because one of them turned him years ago, doesn’t mean it’s his responsibility to keep them in check.”

“How many mundanes have they attacked?”

“They’ve killed twenty. Attacked…who knows? They could’ve turned dozens.” Magnus ran his hands over his face with a deep sigh. Since demons had been run from the world, the downworld had been relatively safe. New York especially has always been kept in check. Magnus hadn’t realized how bad things had gotten while he was avoiding his magic and the downworld as a whole. Now that he was back in action, well, the downworld politics had quickly pulled him back in.

At the moment, the most important thing was tracking down the rogue wolf pack. Lead by one Alaric, who’d turned Magnus’ friend Luke into a werewolf only years ago. Magnus had found Luke after he was turned and helped him, shown him he could still live a normal life. Ever since then, the newly minted werewolf had stayed far away from anything downworlder, especially the wolves. He’d been the one to alert Magnus to the problem, however, after he found a body left outside his bookshop. A young girl, torn apart by the wolves.

Magnus had been trying to help track the pack ever since but, without something to track them with, it’d been a waste of time.

“Luke thinks he found a lead but I’m not hopeful. However, now I must go.” Magnus said, glancing at the clock.

Ragnor perked up. “Where are you off to all of a sudden?”

“I have plans,” Magnus said, standing and hoping to leave before Ragnor got any more questions in.

“With young Alexander?”

Magnus sighed, flopping back down into his seat and waiting.

Ragnor wasted no time, quickly looking Magnus up and down, donning his serious face. “You must tell him, Magnus. He deserves to know. If you truly love him—”

“I never said—”

Ragnor cut him off with a vicious look and Magnus fell silent. “If it’s love, he will understand. You just have to give him a chance. If you love him, you must tell him the truth. I fear if you do not, either your own stupid insecurities or your secrets, will drive you apart. I do not want to see you hurt again, Magnus.”

Magnus’ heart was beating too fast and it hurt. He didn’t want to think about this right now. He wouldn’t. He was four hundred years old, he knew how to avoid things he didn’t want to think about. “Yes, well. Thank you for the speech,” Magnus said, standing once more. “Everything is good right now, Ragnor. I’m…happy. I will tell him, just not yet.” When the time is right, Magnus thought, but he had no idea when it would be or how he’d know.

“Now, I have a party to get ready for.”

“Party?” Ragnor frowned, shaking his head at the mental image of so many people.

Magnus’ eyes flinted away, refusing to catch Ragnor’s as he stumbled on with his words. “Well… Um, not exactly? It’s Halloween as I’m sure you are aware and well… Alec, I believe he called it club hopping?”

Ragnor’s smile was slow and deadly. “Are you dressing up, Magnus Bane? No. Don’t tell me. You’re going as a devil?” By then Ragnor was full on cackling and Magnus wished to disappear. "Do you have horns?"

“Goodbye,” Magnus said, turning and striding towards the back of the coffee house where he quickly summoned a portal.

“You are whipped, my good friend! It’s official.” Ragnor smirked, following behind him and leaning casually against the counter.

Magnus waved and stepped through the portal. When he arrived back at his loft, he let out a deep breath. Ragnor was right. He was in deep trouble.

***

Alec was scrabbling around the living, Magnus could hear him from the bedroom where Magnus stood, glaring at his reflection. Magnus was just debating how far he was willing to go for Alexander. For instance, he never would’ve thought he’d be meeting his boyfriend’s family or telling a mundane at least a little about his own tortured past. But Magnus had done that. Just days before.

Magnus had been doing a lot of things recently that he’d thought he’d never do again. He’d closed himself off so fully that he’d never missed any of it. Now that he had it back…his magic, a real life with real people… _love_. Magnus still didn’t let himself think the word very often and they’d never said it out loud. Most days Magnus was sure Alec felt the word the same way he did, rushing through his blood stream, carved into his bones. Others, Magnus was sure it couldn’t be real. Always, he knew that even if it was, it couldn’t last.

Magnus sighed. This was another thing he never would’ve done — okay maybe a few decades before, when he was spending more time with Raphael and Raph’s sense of a good time and fashion honestly had started rubbing off on Magnus — still… This was something Magnus normally would never do. But he was going to do it anyway.

Really Alec? Magnus thought, these are the costumes you picked out?

Magnus only had time to give his reflection one more glare when a scream suddenly came from the living room. The scream had no real words and Magnus was rushing towards Alec before the younger man had managed to call out, “Magnus! We have a situation. Hurry!”

Magnus was too busy rushing to the living room to notice Alec’s tight, strangled voice.

Magnus knew in that moment, with perfect clarity, that he’d reveal his magic in a second to save Alec from whatever had him screaming like that.

Magnus strode into the room confidently, his magic coiled in his sternum, ready to be released at the slightest sign of danger. Magnus’ eyes were wild, searching the room for intruders or…something. He frowned, not seeing anything. The frown only deepened when his eyes came to land on Alec, who was standing on the coffee table, magazines slipping off the edge as he moved around in a funny manner, looking at the ground below him. Was he…cowering?

Magnus cleared his throat. “Alexander?”

Alec wasn’t the least bit embarrassed to turn around and find Magnus, rather he looked relieved.

“Hurry, before it gets away,” Alec said, voice still too high pitched and closer to a scream than a whisper.

Magnus tried to play along, taking a step forward and pausing when Alec let out a low, choked sound.

“Alexander?” Magnus glanced back at him, he was kneeling on the coffee table now, eyes wide and frightened, biting his bottom lip.

“Gah, where did it go?” Alec asked himself, eyes sweeping the floor.

Magnus looked to but didn’t see anything. “I don’t see anything, Alexander.”

“It was right there,” Alec said, waving wildly towards any number of places as far as Magnus could tell.

Magnus took a step forward, reaching out to rest his hand on Alec’s shoulder while his eyes continued to flit across the bare wooden floors of the loft. Suddenly Alec jumped up to his full height, screeching and pointing, while taking a few steps back, nearly walking straight off the coffee table.

“What is it?” Magnus asked quickly, peering over the table, heart racing because he had no idea what Alec was talking about. His eyes ran over the floor where Alec was still pointing until… Oh.

Magnus smirked, trying unsuccessfully to stop the grin.

“Is it still there? Get it? Please, please, Magnus. Kill it.” Alec was waving his arms around wildly, trying to get Magnus to do what he wanted.

Magnus walked around the table, feeling a little bad as he crouched down next to the small, black speck of a spider. Magnus blinked back up at Alec who was glaring at him.

“Kill. It.” He demanded. And Magnus did, stomping on the little eight-legged creature because of the look of actual fear in Alec’s eyes.

It was worth it when, two seconds later, Alec was off the coffee table, relief clear on his face as he sagged into Magnus’ side. “Thank you,” he breathed.

Magnus couldn’t help himself. Running a calming hand down Alec’s side, he teased, “Really, the great Alexander Lightwood, felled by a tiny spider?”

Alec pulled away with a pout. Magnus could feel his racing heartbeat as it calmed down. Their eyes locked, and Alec teasingly licked his lips, smirking when Magnus’ eyes followed the action.

“There is nothing wrong with being afraid of spiders.” Alec breathed the words in the space between their lips. “They’re creepy. And just, why do they have so many legs? Why?”

Magnus couldn’t say why he found this so adorable as Alec pulled back, ending the teasing as he made a show of making sure there were no other spiders around, like they might be waiting to ambush them.

Magnus shook his head slightly, moving his hand to cup Alec’s check and bring his face back around to his. Magnus smiled slightly. “Of course not, Alexander. And I promise to kill spiders for you anytime they dare come near you.” It felt strange, being the one to comfort Alec, even if it was just over a spider.

Alec grinned, eyes turning soft. “Good. They’re unnatural you know. Ghastly beasts. Devils. Demons.” Alec continued as Magnus slowly leaned into him, Magnus’ lips swallowing the last word.

They pulled apart after only a moment, grinning at each other. Alec’s eyes looked deeply into Magnus’ as he mumbled, “Promise to always kill spiders for me? Even if I’m not here and they are? Even if you have to run across town to my apartment?”

Magnus grinned, nodding. “Of course,” he said, pecking Alec’s lips once more.

As Magnus stepped back, he caught Alec’s gaze moving to his costume, noticed the way Alec’s pupil’s dilated as his gaze moved up and down Magnus’ body. Magnus shifted, feeling only slightly uncomfortable and taking the chance to appreciate Alec in his nearly identical outfit.

Ragnor had been wrong, Magnus thought, staring down at his own costume once more. It was nearly identical to Alec’s but where Alec’s was all pure white, Magnus’ was pitch black. Complete with tight shirts and pants, boots, glittery makeup Alec had insisted on, and, of course, giant wings. Because, of course, Alec had picked the costumes, and he'd decided to make them angels.

“I was right, black’s the best color for you. So dark and sexy,” Alec breathed out, eyes still latched to Magnus, traveling over his fairly fit arms, down across his chest and abs, the black shirt almost too tight to be comfortable. Down to the equally tight pants.

Magnus’ eyes were following a similar trajectory on Alec in his snowy white wings. Magnus got caught on the contrast between the white angel costume and Alec’s pure black hair and sinfully dark eyes.

Magnus didn’t know who moved first but suddenly they were pressed against each other once more; lips gliding over lips, tongues battling before they moved on to pulling each other impossibly closer; lips drifting over skin as Alec went to kissing Magnus’ neck.

Magnus’ hands were tight on Alec’s shoulders, holding him close as his eyes shut. Alec’s hands were slipping under Magnus’ shirt, pulling it up. Magnus — as occupied as he was — wasn’t too busy to remember to panic. He tried to concentrate, to glamour himself so that Alec couldn’t look down and see Magnus’ missing bellybutton, but he couldn’t concentrate.

Alec growled against his neck, biting and licking at his skin and Magnus’ knees went weak.

Magnus’ brain was on its way to becoming one track and he couldn’t do that. Not right now. He was about to pull away when Alec brought them even closer together. His fingers ghosting lightly up and down Magnus’s sides, almost but not quite tickling. Magnus knew he should stop this, his glamours had slipped and he needed a second to refocus. Then Alec’s lips were back on his and Magnus forgot to think for a few minutes.

It wasn’t until Alec’s hands started drifting across Magnus’ stomach that the warlock finally pulled away. Breathing heavily and mourning the loss of Alec touching him, kissing him, just being so close together. Magnus left his eyes closed, stepping far enough back that the only part of them touching was Magnus’ hand on Alec’s chest, stopping him from chasing his lips. Alec too was busy recovering from the heated kiss, not noticing anything weird when Magnus pulled his shirt back down.

Once his glamours were back in place and Magnus could think again, he stepped forward, resting his head on Alec’s shoulder. “We really probably don’t have time for that right now, Alexander,” Magnus commented, voice breathier than he was intending. Alec let out a low laugh that Magnus felt.

“Right,” Alec said, sternly. “Izzy and Jace will be here soon. We should…”

Magnus looked up when Alec trailed off and Alec moved down for a soft, unrushed kiss. “Finish getting ready,” he finished, eyes closed, as he leaned back.

Magnus laughed, pulling away and moving to the other side of the living room to put space between them.

“I’m glad you agreed to this,” Alec called out as he moved to the small mirror hanging on the wall. Magnus watched as he pulled out some eyeliner from the mass amounts of makeup he’d brought over to get ready with, leaning close to the mirror before applying it.

“It’s going to be so much fun. We always hit a few gay clubs and Jace tries to get more numbers than me. Izzy gets tipsy after one drink and Simon says the dumbest things when he gets drunk. There’s also a fifty-fifty chance Jace ends up in tears. He’s sensitive you know, behind his occasional arrogance.”

Magnus grinned, listening to Alec. Thinking maybe this would actually be fun.

“Maybe I’ll get the most numbers,” Magnus teased. Alec’s hand slipped, luckily he was quick enough not to smear eyeliner all over his face. He glared at Magnus through the mirror. He was just opening his mouth to retort when Magnus’ phone started ringing.

Alec smirked as Werewolves of London started playing. “Sorry, it’s a friend, I should take this,” Magnus said, grabbing his phone.

“Magnus, it’s Raphael. I found Luke. It’s not good. There’s so much blood.”

Magnus didn’t panic, shooting Alec a small smile and turning his back on him. “What happened? Where are you? Raphael?”

There was some shouting, a scream of pain, and then Raphael was back, out of breath. “At the hotel. Hurry. There were so many werewolves, Magnus, I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

“I’m coming,” Magnus said, hanging up. The very last thing Magnus wanted to do was leave but he had to.

Turning to Alec, Magnus gave him an apologetic smile. “I’m so sorry, Alexander. It’s an emergency, I really must go.”

Alec looked disappointed for half a second before turning to face Magnus. “Is everything okay?” he asked.

Magnus didn’t want to worry him and there wasn’t really anything to say so he just nodded. “It will be. I don’t know when I’ll be back. Probably late,” Magnus added, moving towards his potion ingredients before realizing he couldn’t just carry them with him, that would look suspicious. He’d have to grab them magically once he got to the vampire’s fortress. “I’m sorry,” Magnus said, stopping suddenly and looking up at Alec. “I really did want to go.”

Alec waved him off. “It’s an emergency, go.” He caught Magnus around the waist, pressing a soft kiss to his lips before letting him go again.

Magnus’ heart was constricting for some reason. He was terrified suddenly, to let all this stuff come between them. To let it ruin things like it inevitably would.

“You may want to change first,” Alec added with a smirk.

Magnus looked back down at himself and nodded. “Right. You might want to change to.”

Alec frowned. “What?”

Magnus was already on his way back his bedroom when he called back. “I’m just saying, Alexander. You look far too good to go out like that without your boyfriend there to ward off the unwelcome attention you’re sure to attract.”

Magnus loved the sound of Alec’s laugh. He realized it suddenly as he was changing. It made his heart ache as he left the loft, summoning a portal at the bottom of the stairs.

***

The wolf pack wasn’t happy with Luke. He’d refused to join them, no matter how many times they extended the offer. And then, to top it off, he was hunting them down. Trying to stop them like he was their alpha. They’d caught up to him in central park. Luke would’ve died if Raphael hadn’t been alerted to the werewolf activity and arrived in time to save him from being quite literally ripped apart.

It took Magnus hours to heal him and he still wasn’t completely okay. Luke could’ve healed on his own, but he was likely to bleed out before his werewolf healing had even kicked in enough to start knitting together all the internal damage.

Magnus wasn’t the best healer, that was Catarina. Unfortunately, she was out of the country which meant it fell to Magnus. He got enough healed that Luke could finish by himself and then he stumbled home. It’d been so long since he’d burned through so much magic all at once. He’d forgotten how it made him feel. Like his insides had been torn out, like he hadn’t eaten or drank anything in weeks, and like he could sleep for months.

He was too worn out to summon a portal so, in the middle of New York, in the middle of the night, Raphael and Magnus stumbled down the sidewalks together until finally arriving at the loft. Magnus barely made it in the door without tripping. Somehow managing to find the strength to make it to the bedroom. He wasn’t so tired as to not be shocked by the sight waiting for him.

Spread out across his large, king sized bed, shirt rolling up to reveal taunt muscle, legs kicked out at odd angles, dark hair a mess covering his face, Alec slept fitfully. Tossing and turning. Dressed still in his angel wings that were getting all tangled underneath him. Magnus thought that maybe it was worth nearly exhausting his whole magic supply if it meant coming home to Alec the angel in his bed.

Alec woke up, sitting and blinking blurrily as Magnus moved towards the bed. Without a word, Alec scooted over, making room and Magnus crawled in next to him. Alec sat up long enough to unclip his wings and toss them over the side of the bed. Moving on to his own shoes that he’d apparently fallen asleep wearing and then Magnus’. When he was done with that, Magnus had his eyes closed, breathing deeply, sinking into the warm bed and soft pillows.

Alec leaned over him, he smelled sweet and burning, like he’d been drinking cocktails all night. Magnus kept his eyes closed as Alec kissed him. Relaxing into it. They kissed, slow and lazy for a few moments until Alec pulled back. Stretching out next to Magnus, Alec rolled onto his side, pulling Magnus close to him.

Magnus sighed as he was both exhausted and wide awake. He turned over on his side, wrapping his arms around Alec so they were all tangled up together. Alec didn’t ask what happened and Magnus didn’t offer anything. Magnus didn’t ask about the club hopping and Alec didn’t offer anything. They just curled together, on the brink of sleeping, happy and content in the dark.

Magnus was almost asleep when he felt Alec smiling against the sensitive skin on his neck. Alec shifted the slightest bit closer, whispering. ‘You owe me a night in that costume.”

Magnus laughed softly. Within minutes, they were both asleep again.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading you lovely biscuits! Things are hhaaaaappening! I have quite a bit of the next few things written out already, I just need to find time to edit them but, I will give you a hint of the next one: Camille.
> 
> Leave me prompts for Alt!Malec if you feel like it and I'll see what I can do with them! I'm on [Tumblr](http://imawriteriwrite.tumblr.com/) here if you want to chat! <3<3<3


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